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Alien³ (1992)
If you want to enjoy it, watch the special edition.
Don't know about the theatrical cut, but after reading reviews, I watched the special edition.
It's pretty good, considering you expect a dip in quality by the third movie. Granted, there wasn't much of a dip from the second film. It's actually pretty entertaining, the film is more of a slow burn but I gotta say the about extra half hour runtime does help with fleshing everyone out.
The story is simple, but that's not a bad thing.
The biggest negative about the film is the CGI. In 1992 it was still in its infancy and using it here for the majority of the film for the Alien definitely makes its appearance inferior on screen, especially when compared to the first two which has it looking much better as an animatronic, puppet, human in suit use. Should've stuck with that honestly but I guess they were trying to save money.
All in all might just still be better than Alien Covenant lol, at least with logical character choices.
The Punisher: 3 AM (2017)
A Very Average Start to the Season Saved only by Jon Bernthal
If this is how The Punisher ends up playing out for the rest of the season then this will be a very tedious and non-stimulating experience.
Let me just say that this episode, and I will assume this show, hangs by only on the shoulders of Jon Bernthal. Ever since seeing him as Shane on The Walking Dead I have had a lot of respect for the actor in being able to bring intensity and emotional resonance to any character he plays.
Therefore the first 20 minutes or so do keep your attention due to mostly focusing on Frank Castle himself.
However, soon as we start being introduced to the rest of the cast is where the problems become very apparent.
First of all, none of the characters introduced are memorable. Having finished the episode about an hour ago I cannot remember the name of a single character who was introduced.
Not only that but the case they're trying to make the central focus of this show so far has no intrigue whatsoever and is buried behind bureaucratic talk that is there only for the purpose of eating up the running time of the episode.
Usually with these shows, and Netflix's Marvel shows have started out that way, every show has a certain visual style to it, whether it's the action, or the music.
The Punisher so far seems to have none of that, with even the title theme and visuals not leaving much of an impression. Usually I would watch the intro to most shows on Netflix as you can take in the prologue and get hyped for what's to come in the episode but with this title card there doesn't seem like much of a reward for sitting through it.
The action as well, besides being brutal has no thought out choreography to it.
The couple of songs themselves that you do hear could have been replaced by a score instead which would have been much more effective and hopefully memorable.
The acting is okay but is definitely not helped by an awful script. Case in point, the bad guys from Castle's day job are as cliché as you can get. They don't even reflect the real life intelligence of common criminals.
The main problem with the show so far however is the lack of a central villain to really drive The Punisher to act. Any medium about a hero is only as good as it's villain and by the end of the episode there is still not one to be found. If this continues it's going to become a real problem, especially over a full 13 episodes as killing off mounds of replaceable bad guys will become tiring really fast.
I'm still going to give a couple more episodes of The Punisher a go, hopefully it becomes more focused and introduces some real threats for Frank Castle to deal with, because if this show continues at the same rate it's going to end up being a snooze that you would need to be pretty drunk for to be able to sit through.
Overall, I give this episode a 6/10, solely for Jon Bernthal's magnetic performance.
Stranger Things: Chapter Two: Trick or Treat, Freak (2017)
Another Enjoyable Episode
This was another great episode to start the season. I feel like this episode focused a lot on addressing the aftermath of the previous season with many characters still pretty shaken up a year on.
I feel like Barbara's death and the amount of subsequent fan outpouring for justice to her characters death has blown up to the point where even in death her storyline is still going. I'm not sure if the writers and creators always intended to resolve her death or if it was influenced by fan response but if fan response had a part then I feel it's the most unnecessary subplot so far. Even in the first season we hardly spent much time with her so why we should spend time having a subplot for her now, I'm not sure.
Other Developments are becoming much more interesting. Adding Max to the group is sure to have repercussions later in the season as some ghostbusters are more welcoming than others. We still haven't gotten much to figure out her brother other than he's a pro drinker but I'm looking forward to see what develops.
Stranger Things: Chapter One: MADMAX (2017)
The Band is back together
Season 2 of Stranger Things picks up about a year after the events of the first season. Before we get to the main gang however we are introduced to a new set of characters in a brief and brisk prologue, who we're sure to see later in the story.
Okay this is my first review, and I'm gonna try and get better with these as I keep on writing them, especially with keeping them spoiler free. I don't think my intro is a spoiler but I'll let IMDb decide.
Anyway this was a great episode to welcome the viewers back for another season with these characters. The episode does a great job of showcasing where all the characters are a year later, and starts setting the narrative for what the season has in store. If you thought the demogorgon was the only threat from the Upside Down, this episode sure teases an even bigger monster to come.
The references to 1980s pop culture is also quite evident in the episode and it's welcome nostalgia to some iconic films and video games.
The episode also introduces some new characters, namely Bob, Mad Max, and Billy who are sure to play a large part in the story. I'm especially curious to see the back story of Max and Billy who seem less than happy to be stuck in Hawkins. Sean Astin as Bob is also interesting, especially since it seems lately he's been cast in a lot of things only to meet a tragic fate so I'm curious to see what will happen here. Still rooting for Hopper and Joyce though.
I guess the one downside to this episode is they seem to be putting a lot of story lines in motion and that can have a tendency to keep characters apart for long periods of time a la The Walking Dead, and I hope this isn't the case with Will, Lucas, Dustin, and Mike being apart from El for much of the season.
That's all for now, review of the second episode coming soon.